Представництво МОМ в Україні – Evaluator

 Background of the Consultancy

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Migration Agency, was established in 1951 and is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration working closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners. With 173 Member States, 8 states holding observer status and offices in over 100 countries, IOM is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. Since 1996, IOM Ukraine has assisted over 600,000 migrants, IDPs, victims of trafficking, and other vulnerable groups, directly or through its project partners.

According to the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons (MinVeteraniv), 378,115 registered veterans of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine (over 16,000 of whom are women) have returned from combat as of January 01, 2020, with many struggling to reintegrate into civilian life. These veterans find themselves facing significant challenges on account of their experiences in the battlefield and are often left without the services or support they need due to already overburdened government institutions and communities.

In January 2020, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) published a comprehensive household survey on the sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics of veterans and their families, and the difficulties veterans face in readjusting to civilian life. Almost half of the veterans surveyed (46%) stated that they had not returned to their previous workplace after military service for a number of reasons, including a change in their mindset and difficulties to perform tasks related to communication with others because of a perceived deterioration in relationships with colleagues. Further, almost one-third (38%) articulated their interest to start their own business. With reference to social adaptation and integration, the survey showed that veterans felt excluded from society and strongly identified themselves with their reference group. Most of the veterans supported the statement that “only those who have fought themselves can understand the veterans” (73%).

Further, gaps in the provision of psychological care – specifically, trained psychiatrists with the capacity to provide specialized counselling services – as well as the lack of awareness of mental health issues among veterans hinders psychological trauma during and/or as a result of the conflict being adequately addressed.

IOM aims to support the reintegration of veterans from the conflict in eastern Ukraine through the implementation of targeted activities to strengthen psychosocial wellbeing, increase access to economic opportunities and improve perceptions of veterans within the pilot project regions. Targeted assistance is provided to relevant government ministries to increase their capacities to develop and implement programmes contributing to the successful reintegration of veterans in their transition to civilian life. Additionally, steps are taken to enhance community safety by promoting weapons return.

Nature of the Consultancy

The Consultant will evaluate the project ‘Life After Conflict: Community-Based Reintegration Support For Veterans of the Conflict in Eastern Ukraine and Their Families’ funded by the European Union. The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the Government of Ukraine’s efforts to provide tailored support to veterans of the conflict in eastern Ukraine and their families for effective reintegration to civilian life, and their active contribution to the social and economic well-being of their communities. The implementation of the project is planned for 18 months with two months of possible extension. The project started on 22 December 2018. The project target areas are Kyiv Region, Lviv Region, and Dnipropetrovsk Region.

Evaluation purpose

The purpose of the evaluation is to look at the project’s performance and achievements, to identify best practices and aspects that could be improved in similar projects currently implemented by IOM, as well as lessons learned to be taking into consideration during the designing and implementation of the projects aimed at provision of livelihood opportunities. IOM senior management and IOM project, procurement and finance teams in the Mission will use the evaluation to better understand the effectiveness, efficiency and relevance of the project, along with impact on beneficiaries and sustainability prospects, and help develop interventions for providing further necessary assistance for IDPs and other conflict affected population. Moreover, the findings of the evaluation will be shared with the donor, Government of Germany, to assess value for money for the funded activities.

Evaluation purpose

The purpose of the evaluation is to look at the project’s performance and achievements, to identify good practices and aspects that could be improved in similar projects which will be implemented by IOM, as well as lessons learned to be taken into consideration during the designing and implementation of DDR and security sector reform projects. IOM senior management, IOM project staff, and procurement and finance teams in the Mission will use the evaluation to better understand the effectiveness, efficiency and relevance of the project, along with its impact on beneficiaries, coherence and sustainability prospects. This will help develop interventions to provide further necessary assistance to former combatants. The evaluation should provide recommendations for implementation of future activities and identify other complementary/additional priority areas for IOM interventions. Moreover, the findings of the evaluation will be shared with the donor, to assess value for money for the funded activities.

Evaluation scope

 The final evaluation will cover the period of 22 December 2018 – 21 June 2020. The interviews with the project implementer (IOM), project partners (Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Social Policy, Ministry of Veterans Affairs), beneficiaries (veterans of conflict in eastern Ukraine, IDPs, host community members) and stakeholders (government agencies, local communities and institutions) will take place in Kyiv, Lviv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

Evaluation criteria

The evaluation will use the following main OECD-DAC criteria: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, coherence and sustainability. In addition, this evaluation will consider cross-cutting issues of gender and human rights. All listed criteria are equally relevant and important within final evaluation of the project implementation. The list of questions is included below:

Evaluation questions

Relevance:

• Is the project aligned with and supportive of IOM national, regional, and global strategies and the Migration Governance Framework?
• Is the project aligned with and supportive of national strategies?
• Is the project in line with donor priorities?
• To what extent does the project remain valid and pertinent in the current context?

Effectiveness:

• Were the activities sufficiently well-defined and implemented in order to reach relevant results? If results are not reached, would a different set of activities have produced the results?
• What would you change, if anything, to enhance effectiveness in future projects?

Efficiency:

• Were the project resources (time, funds, human resources) managed appropriately?
• What would you change, if anything, in the project design/implementation in future projects?

Impact:

• What changes can be observed in the target population/key stakeholders/community?
• What, if anything, in your opinion, has already or is likely to hamper impact? How could impact be maximised in the future?

Coherence:

• Were project activities coordinated with other actors?
• Were there any synergies and interlinkages between the project activities and other interventions carried out by local institutions/government agencies?

Sustainability:

• Are results obtained sufficient to draw any conclusion on the sustainability of the project activities? This should include the following sub-questions:
  • Do the target group have any plans to continue making use of in-kind support provided within the project framework?
  • Are some activities already on-going without support from the project/programme?
  • Do the project partners have the financial and technical capacity and are they committed to maintaining benefits of the project in long run?
• What should be done in order to guarantee the sustainability, if necessary?

Cross-cutting issues of gender and human rights:

• Was gender equality taken into account and included throughout the project implementation (design, implementation and monitoring)? How was it done? If not, why not?
• Did the project activities promote sustainable changes in the area of Gender Mainstreaming (GM) and Gender Equality (GE)? How?

Evaluation methodology

The final evaluation should be conducted in line with IOM standard M&E methodology and procedures as outlined in the IOM Project Handbook, consisting of three main stages:

1. Desk review – project documents, interim report and updates to the donor, key outputs to date, monitoring database and other relevant documents;
2. Proceed with data collection among the community members, project stakeholders, local authorities, livelihood beneficiaries, MHPSS workers, members of the Community Support Groups (CSG) and project staff through virtual/e-communication tools[1]; and
3. Synthesis Phase in which the results are compiled into the evaluation report, along with an accompanying learning brief to summarize the main findings and recommendations.

The evaluation must be conducted considering IOM Data Protection Principles, United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) norms and standards for evaluation and other relevant ethical guidelines for conducting evaluations (UNEG).

Evaluation deliverables

1) Inception report with an evaluation matrix and a draft interview guide, along with any other needed data collection tools, to describe the evaluator’s understanding of the TOR and how he/she will conduct the evaluation used including any revisions to the methodology. This should be submitted to the Project Manager, for comments and discussion, to finalize plans prior to the field visit;

2) Presentation of preliminary findings and discussion of these with the project team, draft evaluation report to be shared for Project Manager’s feedback;

3) Once comments received are addressed, the final evaluation report that includes an executive summary, list of acronyms, introduction, evaluation context and purpose, evaluation framework and methodology, findings, conclusions, and recommendations should be submitted to IOM. The length of the final evaluation report should be 20-30 pages excluding annexes; and

4) Together with the final evaluation report a two-page Evaluation Brief with key findings, conclusions and recommendations should be provided. IOM will provide a template as guidance, which can be adapted by the evaluator, but which should be no longer than two pages. Page one should include: Identification of audience at start of the brief; Project information (project title, countries covered, project type and code, project duration, project period, donor(s), and budget); Evaluation background (purpose, team, timeframe, type of evaluation, and methodology); Brief description of the project. Page two should summarize the evaluation results: Key findings and/or conclusions, best practices and lessons learned (optional), and key recommendations. 

All deliverables are to be written in English and meet good language standards. The final report should meet the standards laid out in the UNEG Quality Checklist for Evaluation Reports.

Evaluation workplan 

This evaluation is scheduled to start in June 2020. The final report is expected on week 10, by 01 August 2020.

The tentative timeline that could be amended upon discussions with the evaluator is presented below:

Evaluation budget

Interested external evaluators should provide an indicative all-inclusive budget including the evaluators’ professional fee and any associated costs as required.

Call for consultants

The external evaluator should meet the following requirements: 

• Advanced degree in a relevant field such as social sciences or statistics is required.
• Minimum of five years of experience conducting evaluations is required.
• Experience in the country or region, in community stabilization and livelihoods is preferred.
• Skills in evaluation design, qualitative data collection and analysis, drafting and editing in English, communication, time management and cultural sensitivity are required.

Interested external evaluators are invited to submit the following application materials to [email protected], referring to this advertisement in the subject line of your message:

• CV of the evaluator;
• Proposal outlining the proposed methodology for the evaluation including data collection and analysis techniques, quality control measures, and timelines;
• Proposed all-inclusive budget for the evaluation, to include expert fees all other expenses to be incurred.

Any questions should be addressed to the e-mail mentioned above.

The deadline for applications is May 11, 2020.

[1] In case restrictions will be lifted, the site visits might be conducted.

[2] In case restrictions will be lifted, the site visits might be conducted.

[3] In case restrictions will be lifted, the site visits might be conducted.